Apparatus for surface finishing articles



July 4, 1967 P. P. RUPPE 3,328,922

APPARATUS FOR SURFACE FINISHING ARTICLES Original Filed May 27, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet l l :1 i II II I I I I I I d I \9 I [J I '"II I I] a Q I 7J o m \1. I QI I I I I \s A I ,a sgI Q2; I I I I g I III I I INVENTOR.P5767? 2.1?0P/"6 "M am,

July 4, 1967 P. P. RUPPE 3,328,922

APPARATUS FOR SURFACE FINISHING ARTICLES Original Filed May 27, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 2 0 b \L 0 1) b o INVENTOR. P6727? A RUPPA' A 7' rokvzrsUnited States Patent 3,328,922 APPARATUS FOR SURFACE FINISHING ARTICLESPeter P. Ruppe, 20 Hampton Road,

Grosse Pointe, Mich. 48236 Original application May 27, 1965, Ser. No.459,302, now Patent No. 3,290,836, dated Dec. 13, 1966. Divided and thisapplication Aug. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 571,933

Claims. (Cl. 51-163) This application is a division of my copendingapplication Ser. No. 459,302, filed May 27, 1965, now Patent No.3,290,836, dated Dec. 13, 1966.

This invention pertains to the art of metal finishing. Moreparticularly, it relates to ways and means for surface finishingarticles as by deburring, scrubbing, abrading, or the like.

In fabricating metallic parts and the like, it frequently happens thatburrs and rough surfaces are formed on the articles. One procedure forremoving burrs and rough ness of the surfaces of the articles is bybarrel finishing. This procedure involves a barrel and abrasiveparticles inside of the barrel. The articles to be surface finished areplaced in the barrel and the barrel is rotated on its axis whereby bothabrasive particles and articles are tumbled together.

This procedure cannot be used, however, on many articles because oftheir fragile nature. The tumbling action involved is inherently toorough and hard on such articles.

In other instances such a procedure is not too elfective because of theshape of the article to be finished. The abrasive particles in suchinstances do not appear to reach or at least to have any effect on burrson edges somewhat shielded from the abrasive particles under tumblingconditions.

In both cases it has been necessary to manually deburr each individualarticle. This, of course, is inefficient and expensive. There is a need,therefore, for ways and means for mechanically deburring and surfacefinishing articles of a fragile nature and of odd shape.

An object of this invention is to provide ways and means formechanically deburring or surface finishing articles regardless of theirfragility and regardless of any irregularity in shape.

A specific object of this invention is to provide an ap-' paratus forsurface finishing articles, which involves gentle action.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide an apparatus forsurface finishing articles which, under barrel finishing procedures,would remain relatively unaffected.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for continuous deburring ofarticles, as distinguished from a batch method such as the barrelfinishing method. By using this apparatus articles are introduced into avibrating bed of abrasive particles and relative movement between thearticles and particles of the bed serves to deburr the articles, thearticles moving in a circuitous path through the bed to finally emergefrom a discharge point of the bed. The apparatus is such that articlesmay be continuously discharged from the discharge point of the bed, allwithout any interruption of the deburring process. Such portion of theabrasive particles as are discharged from the bed along with thearticles, are collected and returned to the bed adjacent the articleinlet to the bed.

In the apparatus of this invention there is employed the concept of aplurality of deburring zones containing abrasive particles and articlesto be finished with the bin being connected with vibratory conveyormeans structure.

Furthermore, the downstream end of each zone toward which particles andarticles are conveyed is provided with a deflector means comprising acurved path in the deburring zone. The deflector means is so constructedand arranged so that articles and particles may spill around an end ofthe curved Wall for discharge from the deburring zone; and in astaggered arrangement of the zones the articles spill around the ends ofthe walls from one deburring zone to the next.

These and other concepts involved in this invention are present in theembodiment illustrated in the drawings which form a material part of thedisclosure.

Turning to the drawings, it will be observed that:

FIG. 1 is a general side view of an article-finishing machine embodyingthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the machine of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an end view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 looking in thedirection of arrow 3 therein.

The apparatus shown in the drawing is adapted to carry out what may bethought of as a continuous article-finishing method as distinguishedfrom a batch or semibatch type method. The apparatus comprises, as shownin FIG. 2, a succession of article-finishing zones 56, 58, 60, 62, 64and 66 which provide for successive beds of abrasive articles andparticles. During operation of the apparatus the beds are subjected tovibratory conveying forces, and articles and particles overflow or spillfrom one bed to the next along the succession of beds from the upstreamend 56 to the downstream end 66. Overflow or spillage from thedownstream bed is collected and the articles and particles separatedfrom each other, the articles discharging through chute 68 While theparticles are returned by the transfer means 70 to be introduced to theupstream end of the apparatus through re-entry chute 72. The spillageresults from having such a quantity of abrasive particles in the bedstogether with the articles to be surface finished, that upon subjectingthe beds to the vibratory forces, the particles and articles overflow orspill from the beds as they move in their circulatory path through thebeds.

More particularly the apparatus comprises a frame 74 upon which anelongate trough-like bin 76 is supported by angularly disposed pairs 78,80 and 82 of leaf springs. The bin 76 has a bottom wall 84, parallelside walls 86 and 88 and end walls 90 and 92.

Connected to the bin for subjecting it to vibratory forces is vibratorymechanism including an eccentric drive 94 in driven engagement through adrive belt or the like 96 with motor 98 mounted on frame 74. A leafspring 100 connects the eccentric to bin 76. Upon operation of the motor98 the bin is subjected to a vibratory motion tending to move abrasiveparticles and articles to be surface finished disposed within the binfrom the upstream end thereof (the right-hand end as viewed in FIG. 2)toward the downstream end (the left-hand end). The springs 78, 80 and 82are preferably at an angle of 60 degrees. The amplitude of vibratingmotion is preferably of an inch and the frequency in a range from 600 to2400 cycles per minute.

Within the bin are a succession of baffle means cooperating with thebottom and side walls of the bin to define finishing zones or beds ofabrasive particles and articles to be surface finished. Such bafliemeans comprises a series of recirculating baflles 102, 104, 106, 108,and 112 each of which has a concave face 114 as shown in FIG. 1. Thebaflles are generally semi-cylindrical in section. Each return baflie issecured along its lower edge to the floor 84 of the bin and cocked in aslight angle such that its concave face tends to open slightly upwardlyas along arrow 116 in FIG. 1. The recirculating baflles are disposed insuccessive laterally staggered relation along the bin as shown in FIG. 2to provide passageways as at 118, 120, 122, 124 and 126 around opposi-te sides of successive finishing zones. Such passageways allowoverflow or spillage of articles and particles from one finishing zoneor bed to be transferred to the next :one or bed in the succession. Oneend of each recircu- .-atin-g baffie juxtaposes a side wall of the binwhile the opposite end is spaced from the other side wall by the widthof the aforementioned passageways. Such opposite end of eachrecirculating baffle is closed by a secondary bathe comprising a firstportion 130 juxtaposing such end of the recirculating bafile and asecond portion 132 disposed at an angle to the first portion andextending upstream of the recirculating baffle to define with therecirculating baflle and the opposed side wall of the bin each of thefinishing zones, such as zone 56.

Baffie portion 132 of each of the secondary baffles rises upwardly fromthe bottom wall or floor 84 of the bin a distance not quite butapproaching one-half the rise of the recirculating bafiies as clearlyshown in FIG. 1. The overflow or spillage of abrasive particles andarticles being finished occurs principally over this baflle portion 132of each secondary baffie. The height and length of this portiontherefore determines to a great extent the quantity of articles andparticles that may be contained within each finishing zone.

As articles and particles spill over bafile portion 132 they fall to thefloor 84 of the bin in the passageways 118, 120, etc., which areas ofthe fioor provide a means for transferring particles and articles to thenext successive finishing zone or bed.

At the downstream end of the succession of beds or finishing zones isthe article and particle separator means comprising a screen 140spanning an opening in the floor 84 of the bin and having a mesh sizedsuch that abrasive particles will fall therethrough while articles willpass thereover and outarticle chute 68. A deflector wall 93 is providedalong the downstream side of screen 140 to guide articles into chute'68. Below the screen is a particle transfer chute 142 disposed on adownwardly sloping incline and adapted to catch particles from separator140 and convey them to the return transfer device or conveyor 70 forre-introduction to the opposite end of bin 76. The chute 142 may besecured to the bottom of bin 76 and empty through an opening in sidewall 144 of conveyor 70.

Conveyor 70 includes a bottom wall 146, end walls 148 and 150, andanother side wall 152. It slopes upwardly as shown so that its high endis disposed above the bottom wall 84 of bin 76. The particle re-entrychute 72 connected to conveyor 70 empties particles travelling up theconveyor back into the upstream end of the bin 76. Conveyor 79 issupported on framework 74 by leaf springs 154, 156 and 158 which areangled reverse of springs 78, 80 and 82 because the conveying motion tobe imparted is the reverse of that in bin 76. Eccentric mechanism 94 isprovided with an eccentric element and follower (not shown in detail)which are operatively connected to drive leaf 160 which is in turnconnected to the conveyor 70. Consequently upon operation of motor 98,conveyor 79 is operated to convey abrasive particles from the lower endto the higher end for discharge through chute 72 back into the bin. Theamplitude and frequency of conveyor 70 is such that it will returnparticles to the upstream end of the bin as rapidly as they pass throughthe collector.

For any given frequency and amplitude of vibratory movement imparted tobin 76, the rate at which articles to be finished will pass through thefinishing operation is principally a function of the quantity or volumeof articles and particles in the successive beds or finishing zones.This is so because the rate at which articles and particles spill out ofthe successive beds is a direct function of the quantity of particlesand articles in the beds. If the particle level is high, the spillage ismore rapid, and vice versa. Therefore if abrasive particles are added tothe system in such quantity that taken together with a rate at whicharticles are fed to the system there is a high overflow rate betweensuccessive beds, the average length of time any of the articles will besubject to the surface finishing will be less than if the quantity ofparticles added or rate of article infeed are reduced. As a consequencethe length of time that articles are subjected to the finishingoperation becomes, for any given frequency and amplitude of vibratoryconveying motion of the bin, a function of the rate at which articlesand particles are fed into the upstream end of the succession of beds orfinishing zones.

It has been found that if the proportion by volume of abrasive particlesto articles to be finished is 121 that a very satisfactory finishing isobtained.

As heretofore mentioned the general direction of article and particlemovement through the bin is from the upstream toward the downstream endthereof. During this general motion within each of the successive beds,the movement of articles and particles is deflected by the concavesurface 114 of each of the recirculating baffles to cause the articlesand particles to recirculate in each of the beds, such recirculationbeing counter the general direction of article and particle movement inthe bed. As the articles recirculate in each of the beds they are gentlyturned over. During this circulatory travel of articles and particles ineach of the beds some of the articles and particles spill out of thebeds and are caught by the next successive bed in the succession of bedsand the action repeats. In this fashion the articles and particles movethrough the system from the upstream end of the bin to the downstreamend thereof. To give some idea of dimensions of a bin actuallyconstructed and tested, and the rate at which articles were finished, abin was constructed having a length of approximately 8 /2 feet and awidth of 1 /2 feet and a depth of 6 inches. Articles of a suitable sizefor surface finishing in such size bin travelled from one end to theother thereof in about 30 minutes, and were thoroughly and properlysurface finished.

A feature of advantage of this invention is that while the machines arein operation, the operator can tell by visual inspection the extent offinishing which has occurred and when substantially all of the articleshave been surface finished.

Another feature of advantage of the machine is that the vibratoryconveyor action thereof can be controlled so that agitation and movementof the articles to be finished are gentle. Yet, because of the relativemotion between the abrasive particles and articles to be finished, theabrading, scrubbing, or deburring action is most effective.

Still another feature of advantage of this invention is that regardlessof the shapes of the articles to be finished, all surfaces of thearticles are contacted by the abrasive particles in following theteachings of this invention.

The machine of this invention is applicable not only with a bed ofabrasive particles in the dry state, but also to a bed of abrasiveparticles suspended in a liquid to form a slurry. Generally speaking,any of the conventional deburring or surface finishing solids such assand, silicon-carbides, and the like, may be used in practicing theteachings of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for surface finishing articles which comprises: anelongated trough-like bin having a bottom and upstanding side walls, asuccession of laterally staggered 'bafiles extending transversely of thebin and upstanding from the bottom in spaced relation longitudinallythereof and alternately spaced at one end from, while connected at theopposite end to, first one side wall and then the other to define asuccession of open end article finishing zones providing a generallyzigzag article and particle pathway lengthwise of the bin, means forsupporting and subjecting the bin to vibratory conveying forcesextending generally lengthwise of the bin, and an article and particleseparator in communication with that end of the bin toward which saidconveying forces are directed.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 characterized in that saidbafiles are vertically concave and in opposition.

to the direction of vibratory conveying forces, to provide a successionof open ended recirculating article finishing zones.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 characterized in that aspill-over wall is provided at the open end of each article finishingzone and extends generally lengthwise of the bin between successivebaflies and is of a height less than the bafiies and over which articlesand particles spill in passing from one zone to the next.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 characterized in that each bafileis concave and faces angularly upwardly and in opposition to thedirection of vibratory conveying forces.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1 characterized in that conveyingmeans are provided communicating at one end with the article andparticle separator to collect particles thereform and communicating atthe other end with the opposite end of the bin to return separatedparticles to such end for recycling therethrough.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,222,776 11/ 1940 Linke et a1209-3 2,222,777 11/1940 Linke 209-446 3,071,900 1/1963 =Balz 511633,073,078 1/1963 Balz 51-163 3,163,967 1/1965 Moore 51-163 3,187,4736/1965 Ruppe 51163 X 3,187,474 6/ 1965 Setzler 51-313 LESTER M. SWINGLE,Primary Examiner.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR SURFACE FINISHING ARTICLES WHICH COMPRISES: ANELONGATED TROUGH-LIKE BIN HAVING A BOTTOM AND UPSTANDING SIDE WALLS, ASUCCESSION OF LATERALLY STAGGERED BAFFLES EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THEBIN AND UPSTANDING FROM THE BOTTOM IN SPACED RELATION LONGITUDINALLYTHEREOF AND ALTERNATELY SPACED AT ONE END FROM, WHILE CONNECTED AT THEOPPOSITE END TO, FIRST ONE SIDE WALL AND THEN THE OTHER TO DEFINE ASUCCESSION OF OPEN END ARTICLE FINISHING ZONES PROVIDING A GENERALLYZIGZAG ARTICLE AND PARTICLE PATHWAY LENGTHWISE OF THE BIN, MEANS FORSUPPORTING AND SUBJECTING THE BIN TO VIBRATORY CONVEYING FORCESEXTENDING GENERALLY LENGTHWISE OF THE BIN, AND AN ARTICLE AND PARTICLESEPARATOR IN COMMUNICATION WITH THAT END OF THE BIN TOWARD WHICH SAIDCONVEYING FORCES ARE DIRECTED.